Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to CRM data processing and more particularly to command and control in a CRM application.
Description of the Related Art
CRM refers to the interaction that a business entity enjoys with its customers, whether the business entity provides sales or services to the customer. CRM is often thought of as a business strategy that enables business managers to understand the customer, to retain customers through better customer experience, to attract new customers, increase profitability and to decrease customer management costs. In real terms, however, CRM systems are used specifically to manage business contacts, clients, contract wins and sales leads. As such, CRM solutions provide the end user with the customer business data necessary to provide services or products desired by the customers, to provide better customer service, to cross-sell and to up-sell more effectively, to close deals, retain current customers and understand the identity of the customer.
CRM systems are often used to manage the entire lifecycle of a relationship between a customer and an organization. In this regard, a CRM system is enabled to manage tasks for organizational representatives associated with the targeting and acquisition of a new customer, the fulfillment of a sale to a new customer or an existing customer, and the maintenance of a relationship with an existing customer. Much of the role of the CRM system is to store data documenting the relationship between representatives of an organization and its customers and prospective customers. Thus, the typical CRM system takes a long view of the customer relationship from inception to conclusion which may last many years or even decades.
CRM systems can be quite complicated in structure and size, primarily due to the vast amount of data managed and the different ways in which the data is visualized in order to facilitate CRM. To locate data of interest often requires some a priori knowledge at least of the particular program module of the CRM system in which the data appears. Likewise, to effectuate a directive in the CRM system generally requires the a priori knowledge at least of the menu hierarchy of the CRM system in which a desired command can be found. Thus, much of the challenge in working with a CRM system involves the tedious transition from mouse to keyboard and back to mouse as the end user manually navigates the CRM system to the relevant portion in which a desired record can be located or a desired action effectuated.